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Using Web 2.0 Strategies in Health Care Marketing: A 3-part blog series

Jose Villa — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:03:21 +0000

PART 1 – Using Web 2.0 Strategies in Health Care Marketing: The Web 2.0 Opportunity

Static Web sites are no longer enough to build lasting relationships with your customer base. Web 2.0 and the growth of social media have created valuable tools for health care organizations to successfully reach their target audience in meaningful ways that can help create lifelong brand ambassadors and loyal customer relationships.

But instead of just jumping onto the Web 2.0 bandwagon, it is important for health care organizations to take a step back and determine how they can strategically use social media as part of their overall communications plan.

The social network consumer

It is a common misconception that social networks are filled only with teenagers and college students. While these populations still comprise a key demographic of social network users, they are by far not the only ones. Earlier this year Facebook stated that women 55 years old and older are its fastest growing demographic. In fact, the 26 to 44 year old age group now accounts for 41 percent of Facebook’s audience. The percent of adult Internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project’s December 2008 survey.

Twitter, the latest Web 2.0 craze, has infected pop culture with celebrity users like Oprah and Shaquille O’Neal and has become part of politics with its user list including President Barack Obama and numerous members of the U.S. Congress. In the United States alone, according to comScore, Twitter recorded more than 4 million users in February, up more than 1,000 percent from a year ago. This includes a number of businesses utilizing this popular medium to reach their target audiences. One of the interesting things about Twitter is that the 45 to 54-year-old crowd is actually the one driving the increased interest in this outlet, as opposed to 18 to 24 year olds who traditionally were the social media early adopters.

These strong trends continue with the multicultural population as well. More than 40 percent of U.S. Hispanics who go online at least once a month maintain social network profiles, according to Ipsos. In addition, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported that 43 percent of online U.S. African Americans have a profile on a social network Web site – 12 percent higher than whites / non-Hispanics.

Whether it’s Facebook or Twitter or through your own social network, there are multiple ways to reach out and communicate with your target audience. The challenge for any health care organization is figuring out where to start. The first inclination is to jump into anything and everything that is available, but it’s important to find the mediums that work best for each organization and what they are trying to accomplish.

Check-in next week for Part 2 of this series.

It’s all about engagement

Jose Villa — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:39:06 +0000

I’ve been preaching for a while that the old, closed brand management model based on awareness, reach and frequency is dead. The shift to all things digital is rapidly changing the advertising business to a new paradigm – based on open brand stewardship, insights, impact and most of all ENGAGEMENT.

This same shift is taking place in the Hispanic advertising world. I just wrote an article for MediaPost looking more closely at this big change in how we develop advertising programs aimed at Hispanics. What do you think?

Jose Villa

Sensis named second fastest growing Hispanic-owned business in America!

Rob — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:43:56 +0000

We are very excited to announce that Sensis ranked No. 2 on Hispanic Business magazine’s list of fastest growing Hispanic-owned businesses and earned a spot at No. 448 on the HB500, a list of top Hispanic-owned companies in the nation.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

Hispanics and mobile usage

Dan Peralta — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 23:46:52 +0000

By now we all know that Hispanics account for one-half of the nation’s population growth. We also know, according to a new report by HispanTelligence, U.S. Hispanic purchasing power has surged to nearly $700 billion and is projected to reach as much as $1 trillion by 2010. There is a recent study by eMarketer, which estimates there are 23 million Hispanics online, this translates to about 52% of the US Hispanic population.
What you many not know is that Hispanics over-index in mobile use and consumption according to ComScore; 71% compared to 48% of the general market.
Hispanics are actively watching mobile videos, they are more inclined to access news and information via mobile browsers, and play games more than the general market; 35% of Hispanics vs. 21%. Hispanics also rate above average in ringtone purchases, photo messaging, and trading videos. They also use mobile phones to access a wide array of news and information services.
The information listed above makes mobile marketing a natural fit to target the Hispanic consumer. However, just because Hispanics over-index in mobile use, or the fact that Hispanics have an above average ad recall will not ensure success of a mobile marketing effort. In order to be successful you need to have content that is appealing, providing a short code is not enough. Use mobile marketing as an extension of your interactive and traditional advertising campaigns; cross platform campaigns will draw a bigger response. Another way to incorporate mobile is to leverage live events and on-the-ground street teams to drive the Hispanic target to participate with on-site events, like picture taking against green screens.
Remember, start small and keep things simple, use words that are recognizable by the target, regardless of the level of fluency in either Spanish or English.

Dan Peralta, Associate Creative Director

Do Latinos really shop online?

Dan Peralta — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:10:59 +0000

With the holidays once again upon us, many more people won’t be flocking to department stores this year. Nor will they be standing in long lines or visiting specialty boutiques any time soon. They’ll be online. Among these growing numbers of Web shopping converts, you’ll find Hispanic shoppers— who increasingly appreciate the relative safety, convenience and variety of shopping options on the Internet.
No doubt this is a great opportunity to reach shoppers of all stripes with online marketing campaigns. But Latinos in particular are unique segment. Hispanics no longer simply use the Internet as a means to communicate with loved ones abroad or keep up with the latest news in their respective counties of origin. It turns out they are increasingly becoming more and more likely to search for product information and shop on the Internet, and are more receptive to online marketing, mobile and email campaigns than their General Market counterparts.
A recent study by eMarketer estimates there are 23 million Hispanics online, which accounts for fewer than 52% of the US Hispanic population. Although traditional advertising is doing an adequate job of reaching this market, online marketing remains vastly overlooked by many advertisers attempting to reach this target. Looks like Santa’s going to have to find a brand new bag. ‘Tis the season to change conventional marketing practices…
Dan Peralta, Associate Creative Director

Why Hispanic Advertisers Need to Consider Mobile

Isabella Bejarano — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:05:38 +0000

Mobile Marketer recently put out their first Classic Guide to Mobile Advertising in which mobile industry professionals offer their insight and expertise on mobile marketing. The guide caters to advertisers, ad execs, media planners/buyers, etc. in an effort to guide them to plan, execute, and analyze mobile ad campaigns.

In this guide I found an interesting article on Hispanic mobile advertising that highlights the importance and success of including mobile in the Hispanic marketing mix. Not to my surprise, I found that although online and general technology adoption among Hispanics lags behind the general market–it’s no big secret that the Hispanic segment significantly over-indexes in mobile phone usage.

In 2007 the Mobile Marketing Association found that 75% of Hispanics own a mobile phone and use it regularly. Mobile marketing messages are also more successful amongst Hispanics, particularly coupons, status alerts, and sweepstakes or contests. Text message usage also increased dramatically, over 39% in the last 12 months according to a recent comScore M: Metrics study.

Sites like MTV Tr3s and social network MocoSpace offer mobile Web sites, and increasing mobile Web traffic to these sites proves that Hispanics are active and engaged mobile users. Additionally, premiere advertisers like P&G, IKEA, Coca Cola, and McDonald’s have jumped on board mobile advertising for Hispanics in an effort to deliver highly targeted and interactive mobile content to engaged users.

Evidently, mobile advertising is an essential component when marketing to Hispanics, and recognizing this sophisticated, fast-growing mobile user segment will definitely become more and more essential as mobile technology and adoption continues to grow.

Isabella Bejarano, Sr. Account Executive

Is Your Web site in Spanish? Perhaps it should be…

Dan Peralta — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:09:47 +0000

According to the US Census Bureau, the total Hispanic population increased by 3.3% up to 45.5 million people as of July of 2007. The growth of the Hispanic population is responsible for about half the US population gains between 2000 and 2007. However, while immigration fueled Hispanic population growth in the 1990s, native births account for the most recent surge and will remain the likely cause of growth through 2050. The Pew Hispanic Center reports that native born Hispanics made up about 56% of the Hispanic population, compared to 44% who where foreign born.

No doubt the online Hispanic population is growing as well, from 21.4 million in 2007 to a projected 29.4 million in 2012, according to eMarketer.
All of this makes the US Hispanic market online an attractive opportunity for companies looking to increase revenue and grow market share.

Language does play a major factor in reaching these potential consumers. As the US Hispanic population grows, language preference becomes a matter of choice. Many Hispanics choose the settings in which to speak/read Spanish or English, and they do so interchangeably. Forrester Research claimed 51% of online Hispanics preferred Spanish Language Web sites and 23% required Spanish content online.

Appealing to Spanish speaking consumers can help seed brand loyalty for future generations. Forrester data illustrates yet again that consumers who prefer Spanish content are underserved online. Their study shows 53% of Spanish-preferring consumers agreed they would research more products on the Internet if they could do so in Spanish, and 42% would buy more products online if they could do so in Spanish as well.

It makes financial sense for companies to consider creating Spanish language versions of their Web sites and developing marketing campaigns in Spanish. Even as other sectors of the US consumer economy flounder, the sheer number of current and projected US Hispanic consumers represents a huge growth opportunity. If you give Hispanic consumers the option to access information in their language of choice, you recognize their importance as part of the online consumer market. This has the potential to cement the bond between a consumer and a product (or brand) for years to come.

Another Hispanic consumer segment that should not be ignored is the English-dominant bilingual Latino who prefers to access information in English. English-dominants may identify themselves as culturally Hispanic, but do not necessarily respond to communication in Spanish. This is where cultural nuances come in to play and require a subtle, insightful integration into Hispanic targeted communications.

In a nutshell, the Internet has quickly become central in the lives of millions of US Hispanics, having emerged as a viable medium for companies to connect with this lucrative and growing segment of the US population in a cost-effective, quantifiable, and highly relevant manner.

Dan Peralta, Associate Creative Director